Chain Difficulties

I built up a 1991 Specialized Hardrock this week as a single speed. It came originally with 6 speed Suntour, and of course, is fully rigid and steel. I took it out this evening after work for a ride, only to have the rear wheel slip in the frame twice, and break the chain just as darkness fell. Unfortunately I am running a SRAM PC-1 and I lost half of the power link that came with it. I am curious if any of you had any of these problems. I believe I have the solution to the slipping wheel. The chainline is not perfect, which I will correct by re-dishing the cheap 6/7 speed wheel that I bought and also the axel is not centered and it does not go all the way through the bolt on the non drive side. I will fix that by adjusting the cones. My friend suggested also taking off some paint on the dropout so that the bolts have something to grab onto and also he suggested trying a certain type of washer which will give some grip to it. I also may try some lock-tight on the axel to give it some extra grip and ensure the bolts aren't coming undone. To fix the broken chain I am considering just buying a BMX chain. I'm 190 lbs and do not really break chains. I think because it broke at the power-link that the link may have been jostled when the wheel came off the couple of times and I may be able to avoid that problem in the future. All in all, mountain biking is fun. It was not my first time on a mountain bike (although it was my second), but it was my first time on a rigid one, and it was fun. I was just a little scared because my brakes are far from being adjusted correctly, and I did not have the braking power that I would have liked. I will fiddle with that, and hopefully next ride they will be good to go. Thanks in advance for the advice.

"We got brakes." - Friend/teammate's reponse to the cop's question, "What if the car stops?" after while being pulled over for drafting a car at 30mph.

If the hub is a freehub (rather than threaded for a freewheel) why not just move the spacers instead of redishing the wheel? And yes, if the nut isn't going all the way on the axle you're asking for trouble. After you've adjusted the axle you might also consider track nuts, which have an integrated washer with teeth. You can also use a chain tug (I'm assuming the bike has semi-vertical dropouts) by grinding off the little tab that would usually fit in the dropout.

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Originally Posted by UCIrvineRoadie

I built up a 1991 Specialized Hardrock this week as a single speed. It came originally with 6 speed Suntour, and of course, is fully rigid and steel. I took it out this evening after work for a ride, only to have the rear wheel slip in the frame twice, and break the chain just as darkness fell. Unfortunately I am running a SRAM PC-1 and I lost half of the power link that came with it. I am curious if any of you had any of these problems. I believe I have the solution to the slipping wheel. The chainline is not perfect, which I will correct by re-dishing the cheap 6/7 speed wheel that I bought and also the axel is not centered and it does not go all the way through the bolt on the non drive side. I will fix that by adjusting the cones. My friend suggested also taking off some paint on the dropout so that the bolts have something to grab onto and also he suggested trying a certain type of washer which will give some grip to it. I also may try some lock-tight on the axel to give it some extra grip and ensure the bolts aren't coming undone. To fix the broken chain I am considering just buying a BMX chain. I'm 190 lbs and do not really break chains.

You have to change the position of the cog on the freehub. Redishing the wheel doesn't change the chainline.

If you're using quick release:
Adusting the cones is the first thing to do, if the drive side axle is too long you can't tighten the axle in the dropout.

If you using a bolt-on alxe:
The drive side axle takes 90% of the pedaling force, don't fret about the non-drive side.

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I am using a freewheel on semi-vertical dropouts without a quick-release. I did not explain myself enough on the redishing I suppose. I was going to move the freewheel over because it is a little out of line towards the center of the hub. Since the freehub is too far that way, I can essentially change around the spacers to move the freehub over more, and after doing that, I can redish the wheel to center it again. I believe that would serve two purposes. The first being that the chainline would be fixed and the second being that the rear wheel will be stronger because of the more even tension put on the spokes of either side with an increased spoke angle on the drive side spokes. I hope this will clear things up for you guys.

"We got brakes." - Friend/teammate's reponse to the cop's question, "What if the car stops?" after while being pulled over for drafting a car at 30mph.